Obesity remains a serious health problem and it is no secret that many people want to lose weight. Behavioral economists typically argue that “nudges” help individuals with various decisionmaking flaws to live longer, healthier, and better lives. In an article in the new issue of Regulation, Michael L. Marlow discusses how nudging by government differs from nudging by markets, and explains why market nudging is the more promising avenue for helping citizens to lose weight.

Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the growth of executive power under Presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses, have given rise to a growing libertarian movement in our country – with a greater focus on individual liberty and less government power. David Boaz’s newly released The Libertarian Mind is a comprehensive guide to the history, philosophy, and growth of the libertarian movement, with incisive analyses of today’s most pressing issues and policies.

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The Video Is Creepy, But the Public-Schooling Song Remains the Same

You’ve probably already seen it, but I thought I’d post it anyway. For those who haven’t yet watched it, below is the video of kids at the B. Bernice Young Elementary School — a public school in Burlington, New Jersey — belting out a little diddy about Barack Obama and all the wonderful things he’s declared. According to the school district, this Presidential Idol performance was put on as part of a Black History Month celebration.

In case you couldn’t make out everything the kiddos were singing, here are the lyrics:

Song 1:Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama

Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say “hooray!”

Hooray, Mr. President! You’re number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!

Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country’s economy number one again!

Hooray Mr. President, we’re really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!

So continue —- Mr. President we know you’ll do the trick
So here’s a hearty hip-hooray —-

Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!

Um, yikes!

Now, let’s get one thing straight: I don’t think this is part of a plot by the President to push his political and social ideas on children. He obviously has supporters who would be happy to do that, and he might like it if people thought of him as being a bit god-like, but videos like this could be more alarming to the President than anyone else, setting up the creepy image that he really does have a cult following, an image he might prefer voters not have. And unlike the brouhaha over the President’s address to students earlier this month, which was touched off by loaded study guides created by Obama’s own Education Department, there’s no evidence that this incident was orchestrated by the White House.

That said, this situation is nonetheless disturbing, especially because of the response from district superintendent Christopher Manno. In a statement, Manno said:

Today we became aware of a video that was placed on the Internet which has been reported by the media. The video is of a class of students singing a song about President Obama. The activity took place during Black History Month in 2009, which is recognized each February to honor the contributions of African Americans to our country. Our curriculum studies, honors and recognizes those who serve our country. The recording and distribution of the class activity were not authorized.

Allow me to summarize: This is an outrage — who the heck let you people know what was going on in my school?

Such secrecy, of course, should have no place in public schools, yet secrecy — or at least confusion and obfuscation — is omnipresent. Ever attend a school board meeting? I’ve sat in on several, and I’ve watched lots of people try in vain to get clear answers about lots of important questions. Or how about getting straight answers about district budgets? Good luck there. And though occurrences as blatantly unacceptable as the one in this video are pretty rare, why should we be all that suprised that the superintendent seems so dismissive of extremely legitimate concerns? I mean, what are people going to do if they don’t like what’s going on at the school, stop paying taxes? I hope they like jail…

If education were grounded in choice, we wouldn’t have these kinds of problems, at least not at nearly the level we have them with government schooling. For one thing, parents who’d like their kids to literally sing the praises of President Obama could pick institutions with music programs so oriented, while those with more traditional musical tastes could choose like-eared schools. In addition, school leaders would have a much stronger incentive to listen to customers’ concerns. If they didn’t, they probably wouldn’t have those customers much longer. Finally, were dissatisfied people able take their money elsewhere, “accountability” wouldn’t have to come through wasteful and inherently politicized mechanisms like this: The state commissioner of education has directed Superintendent Manno to conduct a review of the incident to ensure that Black History Month can be observed without “inappropriate partisan politics in the classroom.”

I’m sure that will turn out well, but we’ll probably never know one way or the other.